Little Talks
by beautimisssix
Summary: A story about Jazmine Becket, Chuck Hansen, and second chances.
1. You say get the fuck out, I say hello

After having to shadow her brother for the entire two days that had passed since she arrived in Hong Kong, Jazmine Becket was finally alone, and she was determined to keep it that way. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," he'd said as he left for a debriefing. "No promises," she'd called after him, smiling at the dirty look he gave her as he closed the door to her room.

She hadn't wanted to contact him when she'd been busted in Kiowa for fencing black market kaiju parts, but then the feds showed up with the rest of her rap sheet. She gave them a sob story about not wanting to get put away until she'd had a chance to talk to her only surviving relative, the hero who'd just saved the world, and somebody there must have been a real softie because they had him on the phone before the end of the day.

It turned out having an international hero for a brother had its perks. Raleigh had been happy to hear from her, much less happy to hear about the situation that necessitated him hearing from her. "Fencing kaiju parts? Embezzlement? Grand theft auto, Jaz, what the hell?!" Great, the detective must have briefed him first. "Look, when we get off the phone, just sit tight and _shut up_. I can get you over here, but you owe me for life. For _three_ lives. Try not to steal anything until I get there."

Being in the Shatterdome was better than being in prison, but Raleigh's non-stop hurt puppy expression was starting to make her wish she'd tried her luck back in the states. She breathed a sigh of relief when he left, and waited to hear his footsteps fade down the hallway before she slipped out to explore.

The mess hall was her first stop, and Jazmine sat by herself in a corner watching everyone mill around. They looked weary but happy. Nobody gave her a second look; most of the staff had gone home to their families for a welcome break while they figured out what their place would be in this new world, but many didn't have families or anywhere to go, Raleigh had explained. They remained as tenants, and the available rooms were being used as temporary housing for locals who'd lost their homes to the last attack.

She took the long way back to her room, swinging past sick bay, but as she approached a turn she could hear Raleigh's voice coming down the hall towards her. Quickly she fell into step behind a lady in scrubs headed towards the sick bay doors, and slipped in after her. Again, nobody seemed to bat an eye. Jazmine walked at a brisk clip down the hall, ducking behind a rack of medical supplies as the doors opened again behind her, and Raleigh and a few other people walked in her direction.

_Shit_, Jazmine thought, pressing herself against the wall behind the rack. She inched sideways, sliding into what looked like an empty room, closing the door and shutting off the light behind her.

"Hey! D'you mind? I'm reading over here!" an irate voice called out. Jazmine gasped, scrambling to flip the light back on. "That's better." Curiosity got the best of her, and she walked with soft steps toward the floor-length curtain blocking the owner of the voice. Pulling it aside, she saw a man with messy ginger-blond hair and a fierce scowl on a hospital style bed, leg in a sling, holding a magazine. His head was wrapped in a bandage, and half of his face was covered in the greenish yellow marks of fading bruises, but by Jazmine's estimation he was around her age. The mostly naked girl on the magazine cover smiled brightly at her. "Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here." He didn't seem happy to have company, but no way was she going back out in the hall until she was sure Raleigh was gone. Jazmine was pretty sure sneaking into the Shatterdome medical facilities counted as "doing something stupid".

"Well, I am, so you can leave now. And leave the lights on when you do." He turned his attention back to the magazine. The bulldog on the end of the bed, which Jazmine had just noticed, lifted his head and made a snuffling noise.

"He's cute. What's his name?" Her reluctant conversational partner rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Max. Now look, I'm not trying to be rude-" which was funny, because Jazmine was pretty sure he was- "but I'm trying to enjoy some solitude here, and I told the nurses I don't want any visitors, so if you'll be on your way, miss, ah…"

"Becket," she volunteered. "Jazmine Becket."

"Becket, huh?" His face broke into something like a smile. "Any relation to Raleigh Becket?"

"I'm his sister," she replied, hoping she could parlay his recognizance into a longer discussion.

"Well, I'm very sorry for you," he said warmly. The smile-smirk slipped off his face, and the magazine snapped up to block her view. "Get out."

His attitude was pushing all her buttons. "Just so you know, I'm only in here because I'm trying to avoid _Rahhhleigh Beh-cket_," she snarled at him, mimicking his accent. "So fine, just a few more minutes, and I'll leave you to your girly mag, which I'm sure you're only reading for the articles."

"I don't read it for the articles, I just _happened_ to be reading an article when you so rudely interrupted me, thank god for both of us." He dropped the magazine so she could just see his eyes and gave her a sidelong gaze. "Why are you avoiding your brother? Thought you'd be happy he made it back in one piece."

"That's none of your business," Jazmine snapped at him.

"Ohhh, look who doesn't want to talk now." He raised his eyebrows at her. It made him cuter than she was willing to admit.

"I don't need to give my life story to some-" She fell silent when she heard the door open behind her, and her eyes went wide.

Someone walked into the room on the other side of the curtain. "Mr. Hansen said he didn't want any visitors," a female voice said.

"I know, but it's important." Raleigh's voice said back.

Jazmine and the newly identified Mr. Hansen locked eyes. She made a frantic face at him, and he motioned wildly at the side of the bed opposite the door. "No," she mouthed, shaking her head, and he threw up his hands in a "what the hell else are you going to do?" gesture.

"Please, it's almost time for his medications, and he won't be in any shape to answer questions," the female voice responded. Jazmine scuttled to the other side of the bed, ducking down and trying her best to tuck herself into a compartment that must have been meant for blankets but definitely wasn't meant for a person.

"I'll only be a minute," Raleigh said, and Jazmine heard the metallic scraping of curtain rings.

"Hello, _Rahhleigh_," she heard from above her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hey, Chuck." Raleigh's tone was strained but polite. _Chuck Hansen?_ Jazmine gawked to herself. How had she not recognized him? "How's the leg?"

"Shattered and mangled, same as yesterday," Chuck said evenly. "And the day before that. Did you know there's probably more metal than bone in there right now? Doctors said I'll probably have a limp for the rest of my life."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Cut the crap, that's not why you're here." His words were hostile, but his voice was tired.

"No, I'm here because I need something from you, and we both know your father isn't going to push you for it," Raleigh said. "The media wants to talk to you, you need to be debriefed-"

"The media can damn well wait, and there's nothing to debrief." A note of venom was creeping into his tone. "Stacker loaded me into my escape pod, and I woke up here. That's it. Want me to write it down for you? I've still got use of my hands."

"Chuck, you deserve every bit of credit that the world wants to give you right now." Jazmine recognized that voice. It was the one Raleigh used to use when he was trying to talk her into eating her vegetables, or doing something else she didn't want to do. _Nice move, big brother,_ she thought. _Treat him like a six year old, that'll get you places._ "You're the whole reason we're even here right now."

"If they want to give me credit, they can fucking wait until I'm ready for it!" Chuck exploded, and Jazmine flinched at his anger. "I'm fucking broken right now, Becket, and it's going to take a lot more than some metal pins and a pep talk to get me out of this bed!" Max barked, only twice, and Jazmine heard him stand up on the bed.

The room went so quiet that Jazmine held her breath, worried Raleigh would hear her breathing on the other side of the bed.

"Okay. Well, I'll be back in a couple of days. I'm not gonna leave you here to rot, Chuck. I hope you can understand why." A few more moments of silence, and Jazmine heard the curtain rings chime again, and the door open and close.

"He's gone, you can get up now." Jazmine stood up, mouth slightly agape. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"You're Chuck Hansen. _Striker Eureka_ Chuck Hansen? Who blew himself up to save mankind?" She shook her head slightly in disbelief.

"You heard about that." He wouldn't look at her. The magazine was in his lap, and Max was standing over it, awkwardly wedged in next to Chuck's suspended leg.

"Who _hasn't_ heard about that?" she said, incredulous. "The whole goddamn world knows what you did. You're a _Ranger_."

"_Was_ a Ranger," he corrected her. "In a past life. Not like I could be one now, even if I still needed to be." His eyes were still fixed on his lap as he scratched the dog's head. "Look, you should go now. The nurses will be in soon with my meds, so if you're trying to stay out of trouble…" he trailed off. The edge was gone from his voice, and he seemed smaller somehow.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." She wished he would look at her again, but she obeyed, quietly slipping out the door.

His voice stayed with her as she hurried back to her room. _I'm fucking broken_, he'd said, and Jazmine was pretty sure he wasn't talking about his leg.

* * *

She spent the entire next day waiting for some mention of Chuck to put her plan in action. Raleigh gave her a couple of odd looks, mostly because she followed him around like a puppy with no trace of the frustration she'd been feeling the day before.

Finally, some cohort of her brother's - Tendo? The one with the bow tie - asked him if he'd been to see Chuck, and Jazmine perked up.

"Chuck? The Striker Eureka pilot?" she chirped, trying to sound ignorant. "Is he here? You know, I had a really big crush on him a few years ago - " Raleigh made a face- "and I'd love to meet him. Do you think he'd let me come see him?"

"I highly doubt it," Raleigh said. "He's in pretty rough shape, and he's not taking visitors."

"Oh, I bet." Jazmine put on a resigned face. "Well…do you think you could ask him, though? It wouldn't hurt to ask, right?"

Raleigh rolled his eyes. "If it'll make you stop talking about how you had a crush on Chuck Hansen. I should go see him right now, actually."

Half an hour later Raleigh came storming into her room. "Jesus, Raleigh, could you knock? I could have been changing!"

"You did something," he said accusingly.

"What? I didn't do anything! What happened?" Jazmine put all her energy into not laughing out loud at the look on her brother's face, and tried to look bewildered.

"I told Chuck I had a kid sister who would love to meet him, and he said-" Raleigh twisted up his face into what she assumed was supposed to be an imitation of Chuck- "'Yeah, sure, why not.'"

"That's great! So I get to meet him?"

"Jazmine!" Raleigh ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Chuck has never just agreed to do anything, especially when I'm the one asking. He's refused to see anyone for the last week and a half, including his own _father_. So I don't know what you did, or how you did it, but you did _something_."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted. "Maybe he's just getting bored and lonely."

Raleigh stared at her for a long minute, long enough to make her feel uncomfortable. "Jaz, I don't know if you understand exactly how much trouble you were in." _Oh, here it comes._ "You have a rap sheet a mile long. I don't think I can ever go back to Kansas now, that's how pissed off that detective was."

"Oh no, you've been banished from Kansas. Whatever will you do," Jazmine snarked, and knew immediately that she shouldn't have.

"I know you're embarrassed that your big brother had to come save your ass, but if Mako and I hadn't _literally helped save the world_ three weeks ago, you'd be in prison right now. For a long time. So please," he pleaded, making the hurt puppy face again, "_please_ stay out of trouble. Because if you screw up here, I can't do anything to help you."

Jazmine sucked her lower lip into her mouth and bit down. "Okay," she finally said. "I promise that I will walk the straight and narrow from now on."

"Thank you." Raleigh sighed, shaking his head. "Go see Chuck. I told him I'd send you down."

* * *

The door to Chuck's room was open and the light was on, so Jazmine walked in, carrying two large bowls. "It's me. Are you decent?"

"I'm not not reading the articles, if that's what you mean." He sounded tired again, but less hurt, and obviously in good enough spirits to joke about his reading habits. "Come on in."

"I brought you ice cream from the mess hall," she said, holding up the bowls. "We need to eat it fast though, it's half melted already."

"What flavor?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Mint chocolate chip?"

"You can stay," he nodded.

They ate in silence until the ice cream was gone, then stared at anything but each other. "Thanks for the ice cream," Chuck finally said.

"You're welcome. I just realized I never thanked you for helping me hide from Raleigh yesterday," Jazmine replied, taking his bowl and stacking it in hers.

"Yeah, well. Couldn't really blame you, I would've hidden myself if I could." He grinned at her. "He's a persistent little shit, I'll give him that. Is that why you sent him to ask if you could visit?"

She could feel herself blushing. _Cut it out,_ she told herself. "No, I…I wanted to come thank you, but I didn't want to sneak in again, because I wasn't sure if you'd even want to see me again, and I'm trying to be good while I'm here-" _Dammit, Jazmine, shut up!_

"Be good?" He made a quizzical face. "Are you usually…not good?"

Her eyes dropped to the bowls she was holding. "Not always. Not lately. That's kind of why I'm here," she admitted.

Chuck nodded thoughtfully. "You don't get along with your brother."

Jazmine smiled. "We got along great when I was younger, you know, things were good. Our family was good." Her smile faded a little. "And then it just sort of went to shit."

"Not to be insensitive, but I think that happened for a lot of people," he said. "Myself included."

"Oh…" She looked up at him, remembering something Raleigh had said. "You don't get along with your father."

"Same story." Chuck shrugged. "We had a bit of a heart to heart right before I left to go blow myself up, but." He chuckled softly to himself. "Can't heal a wound overnight. It's better, though. Getting better."

"But you won't talk to him." Chuck Hansen was confusing, she decided.

"You're one to judge, eh?" He winked at her, and Jazmine could tell he was trying to keep the conversation light. Or he was flirting with her, one of the two.

"I guess you're right." She reached out for the pitcher of water on the bedside table, and poured a cup for each of them. "To fucked up families," she said, raising her plastic cup.

"To fucked up families." Chuck raised his, and together they toasted their lousy track records.


	2. Nowhere man

Jazmine quickly discovered that going to visit Chuck was a surefire way to get Raleigh to leave her alone for however long she was down there, so she made it a daily habit.

"You're getting to be just as annoying as he is, you know," Chuck told her one day as she bounced in.

"Shut it, I know you love seeing my smiling face," she shot back, presenting him with a bag of jellybeans and some magazines. "Mako sent these." The look that crossed his face for just a split second gave her pause, and a flicker of understanding. "You've got a thing for her, don't you."

"I certainly do _not_," he grumbled, practically flinging the gifts at his nightstand. "And I'm not in the mood to be psychoanalyzed today, so let's skip that, yeah?"

"_Wow_ you're grumpy. I figured you'd be happy to be out of traction," Jazmine said, nodding at his leg, which was encased in a cast but no longer suspended. "How much longer are you gonna be stuck in that bed?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." He glared at her. It looked more like a pout. "And I don't care that I don't care."

"Fine, dude. You are clearly not in a good place right now, so I'm out of here. Let me know when you're ready to accept that fact that you, y'know, survived a nuclear explosion mostly intact." Jazmine huffed towards the door. "Enjoy your fucking jellybeans."

"Wait." She spun to glare back at him. He seemed to be chewing on the inside of his cheek. "I don't like the green ones."

"I don't like them either." Jazmine crossed her arms. "Or the pink ones. So?"

"What do you bet I could toss more green jellybeans in that cup," he said, pointing at an empty cup on the table by the door, "than you could with pink ones?"

"I bet I could sink more than you," she said.

He perked up, grabbing the bag of candy off his nightstand. "Okay then. If I win, you record yourself telling Raleigh I'm better at everything than he is."

"And if _I_ win," she replied, sitting next to him, "I get to take you around the Shatterdome as soon as you're allowed to get around."

Chuck mulled that over for a moment. "You're on."

Jazmine counted out equal piles of green and pink jellybeans, and took turns shooting while munching on the rest. "You're not bad," she said as he sunk his third in a row.

"I've had a lot of practice," he said, popping a few more into his mouth and talking around them. "I did this every time I got my hands on some. Drove my old man crazy, he thought it was wasteful."

"I know I'm not supposed to be psychoanalyzing you right now, but why won't you let him come visit?" His chewing slowed, but Jazmine kept going. "Seriously, I've met your dad, he's a good guy. He's worried about you."

"Oh, I know he's a good guy. Been in his head, remember?" Chuck sunk another one. "I just don't like having him see me like this."

Jazmine matched his shot. "He thinks you hate him."

"Of course he does. He likes to take responsibility for everything, whether it's his fault or not." A green jellybean bounced off the lip of the cup. "Shit!"

"Oooh, and Becket takes the lead!" Jazmine did a little victory dance in her chair, making Chuck laugh. "Sorry. I'm competitive."

"Hope you're not a sore loser." Chuck popped a few more pieces of candy into his mouth. "He thinks I hate him, does he?"

She shrugged. "He didn't say that, but it's pretty obvious. He's started grilling me about you every time he sees me. He just wants to know about you."

Chuck didn't respond, just lined up another shot - and pegged Raleigh directly in the forehead when he stepped in front of the intended target. Jazmine clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as her brother gave a sigh of resignation.

"Well, that couldn't have worked out any better if I'd planned it," Chuck smiled. "I'd move if I were you, Jazmine might hit you in the eye next."

"I need to talk to Jazmine for a minute, and then you guys can get back to…" Raleigh turned to look at the cup, then back at Chuck. "…whatever it is you're doing."

Jazmine grabbed the pile of green jellybeans from in front of Chuck. "Just to make sure you don't cheat while I'm gone."

"How'm I going to cheat? I can't even get out of bed!" He threw his hands up. "Fine, but I get a makeup shot for the one your brother blocked!" he called after her

Raleigh led her out into the hallway. "He seems happier."

"I don't ask him if he's ready to be famous every five minutes," Jazmine retorted.

"Touche." Raleigh studied her for a moment. "I have to do some traveling. Visit a couple of countries, do the whole rah-rah let's rebuild thing."

"That should be fun. Wait…" Jazmine narrowed her eyes. "I don't have to come with you, do I?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You've been doing well, keeping out of trouble…" She rolled her eyes. "Hear me out. I know you're just starting to get comfortable here, and I really want to believe that you'll be fine while I'm gone, but I also don't want you sitting around with a lot of time on your hands because we both know you're way too smart for that. So I got you a job."

"What kind of job?" Her eyes were narrowed so far she almost couldn't see.

"Here. In sick bay. It's not glamorous, just orderly type stuff, but they could really use the help. Here's your schedule," he said, handing her a piece of paper. "You can start tomorrow. If that's okay."

"Orderly type stuff." She looked at the paper, then back up at Raleigh. "You got me a job cleaning out bedpans?"

"That's not all it is. Helping out the nurses, taking food to people, just talking to them when they need it…I think you'd be good at it."

Jazmine turned the thought over in her head for a minute before she responded. "Okay. Sounds good."

"Great! Thank you," Raleigh said, and pulled her into a hug, and for some reason Jazmine felt a surge of comfort at the fact that she'd just made her brother happy. "I'll see you for dinner, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." She watched him disappear down the hall before going back into Chuck's room.

"So what was that all about?" he asked as she sat back down, plunking the pile of candy back in front of him.

"I'll tell you when I'm finished kicking your ass," she replied, and they shot jellybeans in silence until their piles were gone.

"I'll count," he insisted, and sorted the colors, then counted them twice. "That's twelve for me, and…thirteen for you. Congrats. I guess you get to be my tour guide in a few weeks."

"Never bet against a Becket," she told him as she swept the unwanted candy into her hand and dumped it in the trash.

"So what'd your brother want? Did you piss him off? 'Cause that's great if you did."

"No, the opposite of that, actually." Jazmine grinned. "I have a job."

* * *

Raleigh and Mako met her in the mess hall for dinner, to Jazmine's mild disappointment. It wasn't that she didn't like Mako; she was kind and smart, and obviously not a pushover if she could deal with Raleigh - all qualities that Jazmine appreciated. The problem was that she and Raleigh had the same weird, nonverbal psychic deal that he'd had with Yancy, which meant that when the three of them were together Jazmine always felt like she wasn't part of the conversation. Even worse, sometimes she felt like she was the topic of conversation and just didn't know it.

"Raleigh told me you're going to be working in the medical facility," Mako said. "That is exciting news!"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to do my own thing, for a while," Jazmine responded, after an awkward silence. "I almost feel like a responsible adult. Plus, it's something I'm kind of interested in, so that's…good. You know."

"Jaz wanted to be a doctor when she was little," Raleigh told Mako. "Anytime Yancy and I had to watch her we'd end up covered in bandaids with thermometers in our mouths."

Mako chuckled, then her and Raleigh's eyes met and they went silent again. Jazmine stared at her food. "So when do you guys have to leave?" she finally piped up.

Raleigh cleared his throat, realizing he'd just left her out again. "In two days, we'll be in Sydney for a week and then Manila-" he was interrupted by Marshal Hansen's abrupt arrival at their table.

"Ms. Becket - Jazmine," the older man addressed her, then shocked all of them by bending over awkwardly to hug her. She stiffened at the unexpected embrace, mashed potatoes still falling off her fork onto the tray, but tried her best to relax, then settled for patting the Marshal on his elbow in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. Mako and Raleigh locked eyes again, but Jazmine was pretty sure she knew what they were thinking this time.

He stood suddenly, seeming to just realize how bizarre everyone else was finding his actions, and Jazmine thought his eyes looked a little red. "You're a wonderful young woman. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Turning to her dinner companions, he nodded at them, then left as quickly as he'd come.

Jazmine blinked at her brother and Mako in shock. "I don't…know what that was about?"

"Chuck asked to see him today, for the first time in weeks," Mako explained. "I suppose the Marshal feels you are a good influence on him."

"Me, a good influence?" She laughed. "There's a first time for everything, I guess."

* * *

Raleigh had been right - once she finally got the hang of where and who everyone was, Jazmine really started to enjoy having something meaningful to do with her time. She quickly established herself as the go-to person when a patient was refusing to do something. "Jazmine can talk anyone into anything," the staff told each other.

"It's like black magic," Chuck told her when she stopped by on one of her breaks. "I suppose your brothers got the brawn and you got all the charm."

"I don't come by it honestly," she admitted. "I spent a lot of years figuring out how to make people do what I wanted them to do."

"Well, you better not try it on me," he teased her.

"Impossible! Chuck Hansen doesn't listen to anyone," she said on her way out of his room.

"Hey! I know what you're doing and it's not going to work!" he called after her.

* * *

The day finally came when Chuck was ready to leave his room, and when Jazmine arrived, he was already dressed and in a wheelchair, injured leg sticking out in front of him like a battering ram.

"Wow, Hansen, you clean up nice! You shaved and everything?" Chuck shrugged, but looked pleased. "It's too bad Max and your dad aren't back yet, they'd be excited to see you're up."

"I'm kind of glad they're still gone, actually," he said. "It was nice having the time to myself. Going to be harder to avoid everyone without a bunch of nurses guarding my door. Do miss my dog, though."

"You can't hide from the world forever." Chuck set his jaw, and Jazmine took the hint. "Fine. I'll spare you the lecture. Let's go check out your room first." She wheeled him slowly towards the door, trying not to run his leg into anything. "Sooo…they actually put you in a room right next to mine. I promise I had nothing to do with that."

"No, I did, sort of," he confessed. "I know my dad was pretty keen on me staying with him like we used to, but I…didn't want to. I didn't know they were gonna put me by _you_, though." He tilted his head back to see her face, and pointed at her. "I've got my eye on you, Becket."

"Join the club." They made their way out of sick bay and towards the barracks. Jazmine was used to walking through the halls without anyone taking notice of her, but she realized that people were looking at them as they passed, whispering to each other, not always quietly. _That's Chuck Hansen._

Chuck noticed it too, and Jazmine felt him go quieter and quieter, slumping as much as he could into his wheelchair like he was trying to hide inside of it. "Is there anyone you want to go see? Tendo is around, and some of the ops guys were asking about you-"

"Just take me to my room," he muttered, and spent the rest of the trip in silence.

Jazmine wheeled him into his room, up the ramp that had been installed specifically for him, and parked the wheelchair in the narrow space next to his bed. Someone had brought his things from his father's room, and Jazmine had taped up a few of the pictures she'd found on the walls, and put his bomber jacket over the back of a chair. Herc had stitched two more patches onto it, to mark his last two kills. Chuck stared at it, stared at the pictures, stared at everything but her.

"Who put those up?" he asked, pointing at the pictures.

"I did," she answered, and he shook his head, gritting his teeth.

"I don't want them. Take them down." Jazmine furrowed her eyebrows at him, and he glared back. "I said _take them down_."

She reached up to pull them down - a picture of Chuck and Herc together, one of a family with a much younger Herc, a smiling toddler, and a beautiful blonde woman, a picture of Striker Eureka with a crew huddled at the bottom. As she reached for a picture of Chuck and Max, he stopped her. "Leave that one." He took the pictures from her hand and grabbed an empty box within arm's reach, dropping the pictures in, then plucking his jacket from the nearby chair and dumping it on top. "Here." He practically threw the box at her.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Jazmine challenged him, knowing full well but demanding he explain himself.

"Get rid of it. Burn it. I don't care." He went back to staring at the picture of him and Max. "I'm going to rest."

"Do you need help getting out of your chair?"

"I don't need any help!" he raged at her, then went quiet again. "Just get out. And take that with you."

"No." She threw the box back in his lap, not caring if she hurt his leg. "Get rid of it yourself. I'll be back when it's lunchtime. Maybe try to get over yourself while I'm gone."

Chuck looked like he was trying to think of something to say, but Jazmine walked out and shut the door behind her before he had the chance. Her hands shook as she let herself back into her room. She willed them to stop as she got dressed for her shift.

* * *

She knocked on his door a few minutes after 1, half hoping he wouldn't answer. "Come in," he called from inside.

Chuck was in his wheelchair, and Jazmine wondered if he'd moved at all while she was gone. The box of his things was on the floor on its side. "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to bring you food, or if you wanted to try going to the mess hall."

"I'll eat in here today." When she turned to leave, he reached out and caught her by the wrist. "Jazmine…I'm sorry. That I yelled at you."

She froze, staring at his hand on her arm, surprised by the apology. "Thanks. I guess." He dropped her wrist and she turned to face him. "Look, I know you have lots of reasons to be angry at everything, but you're the closest thing to a friend that I have right now." She let that sink in for a moment, watching his expression get even guiltier. "I'll be back with your lunch in a few."

They'd finished most of their food before either of them spoke again, and it was Chuck who spoke first, again to Jazmine's surprise. "I didn't think I was coming back," he told her, and she could tell he was uncomfortable. "So I don't really know what I'm doing, anymore."

"That's kind of freeing, though, isn't it? You could do anything you wanted to now." Jazmine stabbed at her green beans and watched doubt cloud his face.

"Not _anything_." He tapped his fork against his cast.

"Yeah, _anything_." She set down her utensils. "I mean, okay, you don't get to be some superstar athlete. But you're alive, you're not a vegetable, you have full use of most of your body. You've got a past as a hero, nobody's going to tell you no."

"Yeah." Chuck popped a bite of chicken into his mouth, chewing it slowly. "Problem is I never really thought about what else I might like to do."

It was Jazmine's turn to get angry. "God, you're so lucky and you don't even realize it!"

"Lucky? This is lucky?"

"I can't even go back home to the US," she said hotly. "I dropped out of school when I was fourteen, and I have a long history of doing bad things. Really bad. Things I can't take back. My future is not the brightest."

"And here you are sitting in front of me, instead of rotting in a jail cell. Doing work that you love, at a job your brother got you." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Seems pretty lucky to me."

It took all the self-righteous wind out of her sails. "Well, when you put it that way. I guess you're right."

"I'm always right." He cleared the last few bites of food off his tray, and handed it to her with a smug smile.

"You're also an asshole," she said, taking his tray. "I'll see you when I'm off work."


	3. All things must pass

The members of the world-saving victory tour arrived back at the Shatterdome the following week, and Jazmine ran into her brother and Mako in the hall on her way back to her room after her morning shift, still in her scrubs. "Hi! I thought you weren't supposed to get back until tonight!"

"We were all pretty sick of traveling," Raleigh said, reaching out to place his hand on the small of Mako's back. Mako smiled at the contact. "How are you doing? Still like the job?"

"I do like it," Jazmine confessed, making a mental note to tease her brother about his "copilot" later. "It kept me really busy. That and helping Chuck out."

"Yeah, he's in his own room now, right? How's that-"

_**BWAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!**_

Raleigh gasped, Mako shrieked and both of them simultaneously spun around and dropped into what Jazmine could only describe as a battle stance.

"Relax, it's just me." Chuck casually rolled his chair up next to them, air horn sitting in his lap. "If this had been a _real_ kaiju warning…well, we'd all be fucked, wouldn't we?"

"What the hell was _that_?!" Raleigh demanded, standing back up and trying to recover.

"What, this?" Chuck held up the horn. "It's an air horn. A very nice gift from your sister."

Jazmine had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the looks Mako and Raleigh gave her. "You bought him an air horn."

"He insists on getting around by himself in that chair, and I wanted to make sure he could get someone's attention if they were, you know, about to run him over with something." She shrugged. "Also I thought it was funny."

"She's right. That was the funniest thing I've seen all day." Chuck smirked. "If you'll excuse me, I'm off to get some lunch and visit my dog." He wheeled away down the hall.

"We're still on for dinner, right?" Jazmine called after him.

"Of course!" he called back, punctuating his answer with another blare of the air horn.

Raleigh and Mako exchanged a look - not just a look, but a _look_ - and Jazmine rolled her eyes. "Could you guys please not do that right now?"

They turned their heads to look at her in perfect sync. "Do what?" they asked, voices blending together.

"The creepy, talking-without-talking mind meld…_thing_," she said, pointing at her temples. "Honestly? It's kind of rude."

Raleigh sighed. "Sorry. Mako, can you give us a minute? I'll catch up with you later." To Jazmine's relief, Mako nodded and disappeared in the direction Chuck had gone. Her relief was only temporary, though. "What was that about?"

"Raleigh…it's not a big deal. I'm sorry I snapped at you guys." He wasn't buying it. "Look, I think Mako's great, and I really appreciate everything you're doing for me. I _do_," she insisted, "it's just…you and Yancy used to do the same thing." Raleigh's eyes went sad, and Jazmine stared at the floor so she wouldn't have to look at him. "You guys were so close," she continued, "and I always felt left out. And now you have that same connection with someone else, and I…" Tears were starting to well in her eyes, and she blinked hard to force them back.

"Hey." Jazmine dared to look back up at her brother, immediately wishing she hadn't because the tender expression on his face was almost too much to bear. "Jaz. I'm really sorry, okay? It's such a reflex, I forget what it's like for everyone else sometimes. I'll try harder to say things out loud."

"It's not just that." She smiled sadly. "I've never been that close to anyone."

Raleigh cocked his head at her. "You and Chuck seem to get along pretty well," he said cautiously, and Jazmine could tell he was trying not to sound unhappy about it.

"We don't have to talk about Chuck. I know you don't like him."

"That's not fair, I have a lot of respect for him." The corners of Raleigh's mouth twitched. "I just also think he's a prick."

Jazmine laughed. "I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about you."

"You like him, though."

Instantly her guard was up. "He's my friend. I don't have a lot of those."

"Are you sure that's all he is?" His eyebrows assumed a cynical position.

"Stop. No. We're not having this discussion. Nope." Jazmine stared at her brother like he'd grown a second head. "Besides, you're one to talk. Is Mako just your copilot? Because your body language screams 'We're totally doing it'."

Raleigh burst out laughing. "Whoa, wait. No. We're not 'doing it'. We're just…close." He stopped laughing. "Do we really come off like that?"

"Yeah. A lot." Jasmine smiled at him. "You're crazy about her. It's really obvious, and sickeningly adorable."

He sighed again, reaching up to grab awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Things have been hectic. We haven't had much of a chance to talk about what's going on with us. You're right, though." Before Jazmine could unleash her barrage of questions, he fixed her with a stern look. "And we can talk about that later. Just…be careful, okay?"

"I'm a big girl, Raleigh, I can take care of myself." She hugged him to signal the end of their conversation. "Welcome back. I'll see you later."

* * *

"Well hello there, beautiful," Chuck teased her as she sat down in front of him in the mess hall. "Come here often?"

Jazmine blushed a little, thinking of the talk she'd had earlier with Raleigh. "Thought I'd try it out, but nobody told me you were going to be here." He threw a piece of bread at her, and she laughed. "Real mature, Hansen."

"That's going on my headstone. 'Here lies Chuck Hansen, he was _real mature_.'" He smiled and threw another piece of bread at her. "How's the illustrious Raleigh Becket doing?"

"Well, I have established that he and Mako are not sleeping together, at least not yet." Chuck made a face. "Are you jealous?"

"Why are you so hung up on how I feel about Mako fucking Mori?" he muttered, ripping viciously into some kind of gravy-covered meat dish.

"Because every time I mention Mako, you do this," she said, and pulled her face into an impression of his pained scowl.

He stared at her as he chewed, unimpressed. "We used to be friends. Things went to hell. We're no longer friends. The end."

"Oooo-kay, noted." Jazmine sighed. "You _are_ a prick."

"Who thinks I'm a prick?" It was Jazmine's turn to look unimpressed. "All right, everyone thinks I'm a prick. But who told you that?"

"Raleigh, obviously. Oh, don't even make that face at me, you give him copious amounts of shit everytime you talk to him."

"Tell him the feeling's mutual." Chuck grumbled.

"Already did." She gave him a dazzling smile. "I am confused about where all that animosity comes from, though. Is it because he wiped the floor with you when you tried to pick a fight?"

"Oh, he told you about that. Wonderful. As if being alive isn't humiliation enough right now." The meat dish was gone, so he settled for stabbing his vegetables like he was trying to cause them pain. "He's fucking obnoxious, that's why I don't like him."

"No argument here." Jazmine put up her hands in mock surrender. "He means well, though." Her only response was a grunt, so she changed the subject. "When are they going to let you use crutches?"

"Dunno. Soon, I hope. I'm getting tired of everyone looking down at me." He dropped his fork. "You know what? Let's get the hell out of here."

"And go where?" she laughed, not thinking he was serious.

"I guess you'll just have to follow me and find out," he said, leaving his tray on the table as he wheeled himself away.

* * *

She followed him down the halls of the Shatterdome, through a couple of areas she'd never been in, and to an area she was pretty sure neither of them were supposed to be in - the empty Jaeger hangar. Chuck ignored the giant "KEEP OUT" signs and punched a code into the keypad, then waited for her to open the door. The silence was eerie as he led her to an elevator tucked away in a dark corner.

They rode the elevator up for what seemed like an hour. When the doors opened a cool breeze wafted in, and Jazmine gasped as she realized they were on the roof, facing the ocean.

Chuck didn't speak, just wheeled his chair out onto the concrete, towards the guard rail that stood between them and a drop of hundreds of feet. The sun had just set, and the sky was a deep sapphire blue, speckled with just a few of the brightest stars. Jazmine walked to the guard rail and wrapped her hands around it, closing her eyes and breathing in the salt-soaked air.

"It's beautiful up here, you can see forever," she said, and when she looked at Chuck he was smiling, a genuine smile that reached his eyes.

"It's really something, isn't it?" he said softly. "I never really paid attention to things like this before. Funny what you start noticing when you don't have anywhere to be."

"Thank you for bringing me. I don't go outside much." She'd been on the odd errand when she needed something they didn't have at the Shatterdome, but most of the time she was inside. Somehow she felt safer confined to the halls and rooms of the enormous building.

"I have to confess, I have ulterior motives." He shifted his chair so he could face her. "Every time we talk, you ask me a million questions about myself, but I hardly know anything about you. So talk. Tell me why you're here, because as much as I'd like to think it's to be my personal assistant I know that's not it." When she remained silent, he made a big show of looking around them, then fixed his gaze back up at her. "There's no one else around to hear you."

Jazmine stared out over the ocean, following it with her eyes to the point where the inky water disappeared into the darkening sky. "I'm here because I don't have anywhere else to go," she said finally. "My mom died when I was nine. I think it was lung cancer, she smoked all the time, but no one told me what was going on. A couple of years after that, my dad bailed, and Raleigh and Yancy enlisted. I stayed with my mom's best friend for a while, but I never really felt like I belonged there, you know?" She gripped the guard rail tighter. "So I thought, fuck it. Everyone else got to take off and do what they wanted, why can't I?" Her lips curved into a smile, but it held no happiness. "I ran away after I turned fifteen. Went inland, which was stupid because I had no idea how expensive it was going to be to survive."

"Your brothers didn't help you out?" Chuck sounded surprised.

"They didn't know where I went. I know they would have helped me, but I was so pissed they left me behind I didn't want anything to do with them." The words were flying out of her mouth now, and she couldn't stop them. "I spent a couple of years in and out of shelters, stole what I needed, ran whenever I got caught. When I looked old enough, I conned my way into office jobs, and that's when I got started with the white-collar stuff. Apparently I look trustworthy." She laughed, a short, bitter noise. "I got busted for that, tried to stay off the radar for a while, but when you guys closed the Breach the market for kaiju parts spiked, and I couldn't pass up that kind of money. They caught me in a sting. So I called Raleigh." She shrugged, not wanting to look at Chuck. "And now I'm here."

"That's a hell of a history."

"I left out all the gory details." She dared to give him a sideways glance, but his face was frustratingly neutral. "You don't seem too bothered."

"Sounds like you were just doing what you had to do." The sympathy in his voice was infuriating.

"Lots of people managed to get by just fine without turning into professional criminals." She stared at him. "Why are you giving me a pass on this?"

"Because I like you," he told her bluntly. "Because you put up with my bullshit, and you're the only person here who doesn't treat me like I'm made of fucking glass. You're nice to have around."

"Can't break what's already broken." It slipped out before she could bite the words back.

"That should piss me off, but it's true." He turned his chair to stare out into the night. "It also makes me feel better to know I'm not the only fuck-up here."

"Oh my god, you're not a fuck-up." Jazmine sat down to dangle her legs off the edge of the concrete platform, and looked up at him, resting her head against the cold metal of the rail. "If you don't feel like you deserve to be here, why don't you start doing something to earn it?"

"I will when you will." He grinned down at her, enjoying the look of defeat on her face a little too much.

"Fair enough," she conceded. "But it can wait until we go back inside."

Chuck nodded his acquiescence and they sat in silence, listening to the waves crash beneath them and watching the stars twinkle between the gauzy wisps of clouds that passed overhead. It was, Jazmine thought, the most normal thing she'd done in a long time.


	4. Ranger Hansen's Lonely Hearts Club Band

_I will when you will._ The words were still fresh in Jazmine's mind when she got up the next morning, so she showered, got dressed, and went directly to Raleigh's room.

It took him long enough to answer her knock that she thought she might have missed him, but after a few long minutes he opened the door a crack so she could only see his face and peered out at her. "Uh...good morning? Did I forget we had plans?"

"Nope, I just wanted to talk to you about something, and I wanted to catch you before you got busy." Raleigh made no move to open the door any wider. "...Are you busy?"

"No, I'm not busy, just...now's not a good time." Jazmine could hear someone moving around in the room behind him, and Raleigh's agitation increased by about 50%. "Can you give me a few?"

"Oh my god, Raleigh, is that -" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you have Mako in there?"

"_Shhhhhh!_" He gave a frantic glance back into the room behind him, and dropped his own voice to a whisper. "Jazmine, I am in the middle of something. I will come get you in a minute."

She almost shook with delight, but managed to keep her volume low. "She is in there! That is so exciting!"

Raleigh's glare could have burned a hole through her head. "I am not comfortable talking about this right now," he said through his teeth. "Go back to your room and _I. will. come. get. you._"

"_OKAY_," she whisper-yelled back, giving him an open-mouthed grin and a double thumbs up as he glared at her one last time and shut the door.

* * *

Half an hour later Raleigh knocked on her door. "Come iiii-iiiiin," she sing-songed at her brother, and he let himself in, studying her warily.

"Sorry that took so long," he said, waiting for the onslaught.

"No, I'M sorry," Jazmine gushed. "So was that Mako? Did she stay the night? Did you talk? When is the wedding?"

Her brother rolled his eyes. "Calm down."

"You calm down! This is important!" They stared at each other. "You're really not going to tell me anything?"

A tiny smile crept across Raleigh's face. "We talked. That's all. It's good."

She threw her pillow at him. "'It's good'? That's all I get?" He nodded, goofy smile firmly in place. "Well, good. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks." His expression sobered, and he tossed her pillow back onto the bed. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I've been thinking about what happens next," she said, and Raleigh tilted his head at her in confusion. "We're not staying here forever. I know this place is going to be shutting down for good in a few months."

His face dropped. "I didn't want you to worry about that yet."

"Raleigh, I'm not six. You don't have to shield me from everything." She picked at invisible lint on her pants. "It's been nice not having to look over my shoulder all the time, or constantly think about having a backup plan," she admitted, "but I actually feel like I have a future now, and I need to figure out what I'm doing with it."

"That's great, Jaz, I'm glad you feel that way." He leaned forward. "So what are you thinking?"

"Going back to school, for nursing. I don't know how realistic that is," she said, trying to gauge Raleigh's reaction, "but it's something I really want to do."

He was smiling again. "I think that's a great idea. You want me to ask around, see what I can find out?"

Jazmine nodded slowly, matching his smile with her own. "Yes. Yeah, I'd really appreciate that. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Raleigh made for the door, turning around at the last minute. "Don't say anything about me and Mako, okay?"

She made a zipping motion across her mouth. "My lips are sealed."

* * *

Jazmine felt surprisingly nervous as she rapped out "shave and a haircut" on Chuck's door. _Tap tap ta-tap tap._

_**BWAHH BWAHHHH**_

The airhorn granted her entry, and she pushed the door open to find him sitting up in bed, sketching something into the pad on his lap and surrounded by papers and books. "Hey, looks like you've been busy," she said, surveying the sketches that lay around him. His only response was a shrug. "Don't be too excited to see me."

"It's not you that I'm not excited about," he said, not taking his eyes off the paper in front of him. "There's more surgery in my future. My ankle's not mending right."

"Oh, no, really?" She settled gently onto the bed next to him, pushing some papers to the side. "I'm sorry."

He still refused to look at her. "Not your fault."

Jazmine sat in awkward silence, trying to think of something to say. "What's this?" she asked finally, picking up one of the drawings to examine.

He lifted his eyes to the paper on her hands. "Gear mechanism. Just sketching out some ideas I have, so I won't forget them."

Jazmine had no idea what a gear mechanism was, but the level of detail in the pencil drawing fascinated her. She picked up another sketch of what looked like a robotic foot. "These are really good. I mean, I don't know what they are, but I can tell you know what you're doing."

"Since I was fourteen, I never went a single day without a wrench in my hand, working on something." The pencil in his hand stopped moving, and Chuck looked out at the piles of sketches around him. "This is the closest I can get, for now."

"Where did you learn how to do this?"

"Nowhere. My mum, a little bit. She went to art school." The pencil was in motion again. "It's just something I do when I'm bored."

Sitting on top of one of the piles was a picture that didn't look like a mechanical subject, and Jazmine reached across him for it. "What are these?"

"No, don't!" Chuck went to grab her hand, but instead smacked it into the pile, sending images sliding across his lap and legs.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry!" She started picking up the papers, trying to shuffle them back into a stack, while Chuck continued to try to smack her hands away. An errant sheet with a familiar shape fell from her hands, and despite his protests, she lifted it up to study it. A face with feminine features, darkly shaded hair falling away from it in waves over shoulders that faded out into the rich texture of the paper. Jazmine drew in a sharp breath when she recognized it, and Chuck went still.

"Is this me?" she asked.

He couldn't seem to decide where to look - his eyes darted from her face, to the paper in her hands, to his lap, back to her eyes. "Yeah. It's just a sketch."

"It's beautiful," she said, studying it, then meeting his eyes again. "I mean...you really think I look like this?"

"Come off it," he scoffed, but his tone was gentle. "It's nothing. I just wanted to see if I could draw something that wasn't a machine."

"Obviously you can." Chuck didn't respond, only reached out to take the paper back, and she handed it to him without argument. "Maybe this is your thing." He rolled his eyes. "Hey, you said you'd start figuring out what you're doing when I do, and I am, so you're up, slugger."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, gathering up the mess around him into one large pile.

"I talked to Raleigh this morning about going to school to be a nurse." Jazmine put her hands on her hips with smug confidence. "Your turn."

For the first time since she'd arrived Chuck looked at her, really looked at her, and his eyes were full of surprise and something that resembled admiration but his brow was furrowed. "Really," he said, and she nodded. "That's great. I'm happy for you. When are you going?"

The total lack of enthusiasm in his voice threw her off. "I know you're eager to get rid of me, but I literally just talked to him a couple of hours ago, so I don't know yet."

"I'm not eager to get rid of you, why do you always assume the worst of me?" he asked, irritated.

"I don't assume the worst of you, you're just horrible at saying what you mean," she fired back.

"I always say exactly what I mean," he countered.

"No, you don't. What you just said - 'oh, that's great, I'm happy.'" She mimicked his words with the same indifferent tone he'd used. "You don't sound happy. You sound like you don't care at all."

"I care," he protested weakly, but Jazmine was already storming out of his room. She slammed the door behind her. It didn't make her feel any better.

* * *

Twenty minutes later he knocked on her door. She opened it and stared down at him, but didn't say a word.

"You know, it's really rude to run away from someone who's not in any shape to go chasing after you," he said from his chair. She didn't answer, just left the door open and plopped down on her bed so she was closer to eye level with him. He studied her for a moment, then grabbed a folder off of his lap and held it out. Wordlessly she took it from him and sat back down, opening it to find three sketches of her, including the one she'd found earlier.

"Does that look like the work of someone who doesn't care?" he asked her.

Jazmine pressed her lips together, stared at the sketches so she wouldn't have to look at him. "You said it was nothing."

"I lied," he said softly.

"You only like me because I put up with your bullshit," she said.

He smirked. "You only like me because your brother can't stand me."

"That's at least partially true," Jazmine admitted.

They fell silent again, but it felt easy and relaxed this time. "They're working on my ankle in two days," Chuck said. "Come visit me when I'm out of surgery?"

"Of course," she said, handing him back the folder. He gave a small wave and wheeled off down the hallway, leaving Jazmine to wonder what exactly they were doing.


	5. Let it be

Jazmine wanted to think that maybe Chuck had only meant that he cared for her as a friend, but when she visited him after his ankle surgery he was heavily medicated, and the first words out of his mouth - once he finally recognized her - were "Hello, my sweet wonderful Jazmine".

She tried to play it off as a joke, because Herc was still there and how awkward was that, but one look at the huge smile on Chuck's face and Jazmine knew there was no putting that cat back in the bag. "Sweet AND wonderful - maybe I'll keep you this drugged up forever," she said, sitting in a chair next to his bed, and blissfully Herc excused himself from the room.

"I wanted you to come see me and you came," he half-slurred. "I'm so happy you're here. You're so much prettier than my father. Why are you laughing? 'S true."

"Oh my god, Hansen, you're lucky I'm not recording this. I could ask you just about anything right now, couldn't I?"

"You can ask me anything anytime you want. I'll tell you. I trust you." His eyelids were starting to droop, but he held one eye open wide enough to take in her startled reaction. "Whadderyou getting so upset about?"

Her mouth opened, closed, opened again. "I don't know. I just...Chuck, you don't even know what you're saying right now."

"I do too. I said I trust you. Because you're a wonderful amazing girl and I think I like you." His eyes were closed, but he was still talking. "I'm so glad you snuck into my room. I'm so lucky I know you. I'm…" He trailed off, and Jazmine stood up to leave. "Where are you going?"

"You need to get some rest. I'll be back, don't worry." She paused at his bedside, then leaned over and kissed him softly on the forehead.

"Thas's not a real kiss," he complained sleepily.

"Nope," Jazmine agreed. "Have a good nap, Chuck."

* * *

The mess hall was busy as usual, but slightly less busy - the first wave of civilians had been relocated to offsite housing. It gave Jazmine an odd pang of happiness mixed with anxiety that she tried to shove to the back of her mind as she sat down in front of her brother, who was just finishing the last of his dinner.

"You said you had good news?" she asked in lieu of a greeting.

Raleigh chuckled at her excitement. "I finally talked to your lawyer."

"Wait, I have a lawyer? When did that happen?" Jazmine gave him the side-eye. "Is this another one of those things you didn't want me to worry about?"

Raleigh's guilty look confirmed her suspicions. "Yeah, I guess I should stop doing that."

She sighed. "Okay, you talked to my lawyer. About what?"

"When I came to get you, that didn't mean the feds were giving up their case. They wanted some conditions around your release, so I hired a lawyer to handle that stateside. One of the conditions was that you have to share a place of residence with me for the foreseeable future." Raleigh leaned in, making sure that she was listening. "Obviously, that's going to limit your options if you want to go to college."

"That doesn't sound like good news."

"Well, I wasn't done yet." He looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. "They caught the main players behind both the embezzling and the black market kaiju parts. I guess that made somebody pretty happy, because they're willing to drop the shared residency condition. So you're not stuck with me forever, and you can go anywhere you want, as long as it's not the U.S." The smile was out in full force now.

It took a minute for Jazmine to process everything Raleigh had said. "I can go anywhere?" He nodded. "That is good news! That's great news!"

"It does make things a lot easier." He sat up again, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "How's Chuck? Herc told me he was pretty happy to see you after his surgery."

"Chuck's...fine." She could feel the heat rising in her face. "He was so doped up he barely knew his own name. He probably would have been happy to see _you_."

"If you say so." His smile had morphed into a teasing smirk.

"I don't think I like your tone." Jazmine glared at him as she stood up to leave. "And you need to give me my lawyers' contact information, so I can be involved in conversations about my own life."

"Okay, okay. I'll write it down for you." Raleigh dropped the smirk. "I know my opinion doesn't count for much, but I'm really proud of you. Keep doing what you're doing, I'll help you out in any way I can."

Jazmine gave him a small smile in spite of herself. "I will. Thanks. But no more leaving me out of the loop."

Raleigh held up a crooked pinky finger, and she reached out and hooked it with her own pinky. "I promise. I'll let you know if I hear anything else."

* * *

Chuck was cleared to leave the medical facility the next day, but since Jazmine was working a double shift Herc had been the one to help him back to his room. Truthfully, she hadn't tried very hard to rearrange her schedule - he was asleep both of the times she tried to go check on him after promising she would, and each time she left it got a little harder to make herself go back.

She knew he'd be expecting her to stop by after work, though, so she took a deep breath and knocked on his door, still in her scrubs in case she needed a quick excuse to leave. "Come in," he called, and she put a big smile on her face and opened the door.

"Hey, sorry I didn't come see you again," she said, perching awkwardly on the chair by the desk.

"No worries, the nurses told me I was sleeping when you came by - what's wrong?" he asked, concern creeping into his expression. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," she lied. "I'm just - I had to work a double, I'm really tired."

"Really? So you're not upset about the things I said while I was coming off the anesthesia?"

She couldn't look him in the eye. "You remember that? It's okay, I know you didn't mean any of it."

"What if I meant all of it?" he asked, and hesitantly Jazmine lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. "Would it bother you more, or less?"

"I don't know - we don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," she said, looking desperately for an out.

"It sounds like you're the one who doesn't want to talk about it," he said, and she could hear the notes of annoyance under the casual tone he was trying to keep.

"Because I don't know what it is that we're not talking about," Jazmine blurted out, unable to maintain her poker face. "You used to be somebody I could hang out with when I wanted to get away from Raleigh, and then it stopped being about that, and you started being my friend and then it stopped being about that, too, and now I don't know what this is anymore." He was silent, taking in her words. "I don't want to screw things up the same way I screw everything else up."

Chuck wheeled over to her as close as he could in the tight confines of the room, and reached out to take her hand, threading his fingers through hers so their palms were pressed together. "First of all," he said, "if somebody's going to screw this up, we both know it's gonna be me. Second," he continued, cutting her off before she could protest, "all I know is that I like spending time with you, and there's not a lot of people I like spending time with. So let's go with that." He pressed her fingers to his lips and gazed at her over the tops of their hands. "If that's all right with you."

A slow, cautious smile spread over her face. "So you meant it when you said I'm prettier than your father?"

"One hundred percent," he mumbled against his hand. "You have met my father, right?"

She laughed, pulling her hand away. "I really need to go take a shower. But I'm off tomorrow, want to see what kind of trouble we can get into?"

"Absolutely," he said, and winked at her as she shut his door.

* * *

As it turned out there was not a lot of trouble they could get into after Mako confiscated the air horn, so they settled for sitting in the mess hall with Max and making up stories for the people that walked by. Chuck picked out an older couple sitting by themselves. "What about them?"

"Hmmm." Jazmine contemplated them for a moment. "They were childhood sweethearts who got split up when her family moved away. He got married and had a couple of kids, and then his wife died in a kaiju attack. They ran into each other again on the street, totally by coincidence, and she was engaged but realized she still loved him, so she broke it off to be with him."

Chuck made a gagging noise. "That's so precious. I think I'm going to be sick."

"Shut up!" She shoved him gently. "Look how sweet they are!" As if on cue the man reached up to caress the woman's cheek, and they leaned in for a quick kiss. Chuck gagged again. "Fine. How about…" She scanned the crowd, pointing out a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties sitting by himself. "That guy."

"Serial killer," Chuck said in a dramatic whisper. "He made his last kill right before the Hong Kong attack, and now he's trying to lay low, until he can move out of the city and on to fresh hunting grounds."

"Okay, you suck at this," Jazmine said. "You've said everyone's a serial killer."

"Well they look just like everyone else," he said in a solemn tone, but broke into a grin when she shoved him again. "You just happened to pick three people who I think look like serial killers!"

"I think you're a serial killer."

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm plotting your death right now." He wiggled his eyebrows and tried to look sinister, and she laughed at him. "Is that what you'd do if someone was trying to murder you? Laugh at them?"

"Yes, if they were as bad at it as you are." She turned to survey the crowd again. "Do you want to pick someone else, or are we done with that?" He didn't answer. "Chuck?" She looked over to find that he had gone pale, and was clutching the arms of his wheelchair with a white-knuckled grip. She could see sweat beading on his forehead. "What's wrong? Is it your leg?"

He shook his head slightly. "Nn-it's not-" His chest rose and fell rapidly with his shallow breathing. "Can't-"

Jazmine leapt to her feet and pushed his chair towards the doors. "I'm taking you to medical. It's gonna be okay, just hang in there."

"I can't _breathe_," he wheezed, and Jazmine threw courtesy out the window as she maneuvered the chair through the halls, pushing it with the weight of her body, screaming at passersby to get out of the way as they hurtled towards sick bay.

* * *

They let her sit at the nurses' station to calm down, and she gulped water out of a plastic cup and willed her heart to slow down, but it pounded in her chest for half an hour until the doctor came out to talk to her.

He was sitting behind a curtain in triage, and as she stepped around it he looked away. His face was still pale but his breathing had slowed back to normal, and she could see the fading marks from the oxygen mask they'd put on him. It was obvious that he didn't want to see her. She sat down anyway.

"You had a panic attack," she said hesitantly, and he set his jaw. "You scared the hell out of me." He didn't respond. "Have you had them before?"

He didn't answer until it was clear that she wasn't going to leave until he did. "A couple of times."

"Did you tell anyone?"

He shook his head. "They weren't as bad as...as that."

"Jesus, Chuck," she breathed, exasperated. "You know that's a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder." He gave an irritated sigh. "Don't fucking do that, this is serious. Have you talked to anyone? A counselor, anything? Since the Breach?"

"I don't need to talk to anybody," he snapped, looking at her for the first time since she'd arrived. "It was no different than what I've been doing for most of my life. Business as usual."

"Bullshit," she snapped back, and they glared at each other. "That was not business as usual. That is not normal, and don't even try to tell me that it is."

"I grew up fighting giant monsters that came out of the ocean, and you want to talk to me about normal," he sneered.

"The giant monsters are _gone_," she almost yelled at him. "And I know it was a fucked up world you grew up in, because I grew up in it too, but you helped change everything. And now you need help changing, and there is nothing wrong with that."

HIs scowl faded a bit, and he looked away again. "Then you'll be happy to hear that I have to talk to someone. Doctor's orders."

"I am happy to hear that." Her voice softened. "I hope it helps."

"Me too. I thought I was dying for a minute there."

Jazmine paused for a minute, then got up and stood behind him, bending over to gently put her arms around his neck. He turned his head to rest his forehead against her cheek. "You're not allowed to die on me, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay." He reached up to cover her hands with his own, buried his face in her neck. "Take me back to my room?"

"Sure." She held him for a few moments longer before standing up to wheel him out to the hall, towards his room.


	6. Here, there and everywhere

Max was waiting faithfully for them in front of Chuck's room when they returned from sick bay. "That's a good boy," he murmured, reaching down to scratch behind his ears as Jazmine opened his door.

"Want me to come check on you later?" she asked, as he wheeled himself inside, his dog following close behind.

The color had returned to his face. "Nah, my dad'll be by to get Max in a bit," he said.

"I'll be around if you need me," she told him, not really sure what else to say.

He smiled at her. "I know," he said. "Thanks."

She lingered outside his room for a minute, then darted inside and gave him a quick peck on the lips, slipping out and closing the door behind her before he could react. "That was stupid," she muttered to herself as she hurried into her own room, but the words did nothing to wipe the smile from her face or still the flutter in her chest.

* * *

Fortunately - or unfortunately, Jazmine still wasn't sure which - the next few weeks passed in a blur, and time spent alone with Chuck was short and sporadic. He didn't mention the kiss, nor did he press her any further about what she was feeling. For the first week, she was grateful. By the second week, she felt guilty, and by the third week she had segued into full-fledged suspicion over the fact that he had seemingly managed to accept her emotional incompetence with no complaints.

On top of that, Raleigh had to travel for a week and a half and had not made any progress finding a school with a nursing program that would accept her. It felt like life was stalling out around her, and it was a feeling that Jazmine was not accustomed to. She was sitting in her room feeling sorry for herself when she heard a familiar pattern rapped out on her door.

Jumping to her feet she answered the door for Chuck, instinctively looking down at the spot where his face usually was, but found herself staring directly at his stomach. "My eyes are up here," he said with mild amusement, and she looked up to find him smiling in front of her on a pair of crutches.

"You're finally out of the chair!" she blurted, her face lighting up. "That's fantastic! When did that happen?"

"Yesterday," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "I wanted to surprise you. D'you mind if I come in? I need to sit down."

"No, of course, come in!" Carefully he made his way up the single step and over the lip of the door frame, Jazmine hovering in case he lost his balance. He made it into her room without incident, and when he straightened up to stand at his full height, his weight supported on his good leg to hand her the crutches, Jazmine discovered that her forehead was about even with his chin.

"Jazmine." She stared blankly up at him until she realized he was waiting for her to take the crutches, then snatched them from him, flustered. "What are you looking at me like that for?" he asked, settling himself with some effort onto the edge of her bed.

"I've never seen you standing up before. I didn't realize how tall you are." She propped the crutches against her desk and sat down next to him.

"You mean you didn't realize how short you are," he teased.

"Hey, I am not short. I'm average," she complained, tucking her feet underneath her.

"There's nothing average about you," he said, and she blushed but he kept talking like he hadn't noticed. "So what's new?"

"Nothing as exciting as you being on crutches," she replied, happy to change the subject. "I know Raleigh's made some inquiries at a couple of schools, but I don't think he's heard anything yet. He gets back in a couple of days. How's, uh...how's therapy going?" He had mentioned that he'd started therapy, but hadn't said much else about it.

He shrugged. "I've only been to a few sessions. It's pretty intense." He folded his hands in his lap, unfolded them, smoothed nonexistent wrinkles on his pants. "That's why I haven't been around much lately. It's...It's a lot to swallow."

"I can imagine," Jazmine said, then immediately thought better of it. "I mean, I can't actually imagine. But I'm sure it's tough." She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm glad you're doing it."

"Yeah, well. Have to start physical therapy pretty soon, then I'll really be a lot of fun." He looked at their entwined hands, and gently pulled his away. "Hand me my crutches? I have to get going."

She felt a twinge of frustration. "Sure. Are you okay? Did I upset you?"

He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's nothing. I'm-" he looked up at her, and she could see a flash of annoyance. "I'm trying to respect our boundaries. It's a little new for me. Help me out here."

"Oh." She handed him his crutches, and he began the process of standing back up. "I didn't really think about that. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," he told her, fitting a crutch under each arm. "I'm not exactly good at it myself."

Jazmine bit her lip. "I just want to be there for you."

Chuck sighed. "Then you can open the door for me." She did, and he made his way out, hopping awkwardly back into the hallway. Feeling defeated, she waved a half hearted goodbye and turned to go back in her room. "Becket." She turned back, trying to keep her face neutral. "Let's have lunch together soon."

She smiled in relief. "Sure thing, Hansen."

* * *

Mako caught her on her rounds the next day. "Hello, Jazmine. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Mako. What's up?" She led them to the small break area by the nurses' station.

"I found out about something you might be interested in." Mako leaned against the table. "There is a school in Japan that is starting a vocational program for nursing. You would need to pass an interview and an aptitude test to be accepted. I have some influence with the school president, and I can get you an interview, if you would like."

"You're kidding!" Mako shook her head to indicate that she was being completely serious. "Yes, I'm definitely interested! Oh-" her face fell - "I don't speak Japanese, though."

"You don't need to, they are offering multi-lingual courses."

Jazmine pulled a chair over to sit down, trying to keep her excitement in check. "You'd do that for me?"

"Jazmine, I can see that you're doing good things here." Mako sat down next to her. "The doctors and staff all speak very highly of you. I know what it's like, to just want that one chance, one opportunity to prove yourself."

She couldn't speak, just launched herself at Mako and wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace. Mako hugged her back. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You are very welcome," Mako said. "I will set up the interview and try to find out what you should study for the test, okay?"

"Okay. I should get back to my rounds," she said, and Mako nodded and excused herself. It was all Jazmine could do to keep from skipping down the hallway towards her next stop.

* * *

"I think you're getting yourself all worked up for nothing," Chuck said as she paced in her room, her new dress flats clicking on the floor as she walked. Her new skirt and blouse felt rigid and uncomfortable - after wearing nothing but scrubs or casual clothes for the last few months, business attire just seemed wrong on her body.

"What time is it again?" she asked, ignoring his previous statement.

He rolled his eyes. "Fourteen hundred hours."

"In regular person time, please, not military time?"

"_Two. Pee. Em._" Unable to stand her nerves, Chuck got up off the bed and balanced himself with his crutches. "Look at me. You've been prepping for this interview for two weeks. And who's been helping you?"

"You and Mako." She stopped pacing, if only because Chuck had planted himself directly in the middle of her route.

"And I don't count for much, but Mako is the fucking picture of professionalism. You follow what she told you, you'll be fine." He reached out and put his hands on her arms, keeping the crutches tucked close to his body. "Just relax. Be yourself." Jazmine looked horrified. "Okay, don't be yourself. Be someone without the weird facial expressions and swearing. But on the inside," he said, shaking her gently for emphasis, "be yourself, because you have worked really hard for this, and you and I both know you deserve it."

She took a deep breath and smiled. "That was one hell of a pep talk."

"I'm glad you think so, I spent two days coming up with it." Chuck's moment of self-satisfaction was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Jazmine froze in panic. "That's Mako."

"Don't make me go through all that again. Open the damn door and go." She did, finding Mako on the other side as expected, and gave Chuck one last pained glance before leaving. "Knock 'em dead."

* * *

An hour and a half later she found him in the mess hall and sat in front of him, frowning. "That doesn't look good. Did you drop an f-bomb in front of the admissions lady?"

She shook her head, frown slowly dissolving into a broad smile. "I nailed it. I _think_."

"That's fantastic," he exclaimed, his face lighting up. "See? I told you you'd be fine!"

Jazmine jumped to her feet and ran around the table to sit beside him, throwing her arms around him while bouncing in her chair, and getting more than a few pointed looks in the process. One of her shoes fell off and her skirt rode up, and she ignored both. "I still have to take the aptitude test, but the woman was so nice and she smiled a lot and shook my hand and when we were done she said she thought I'd be a perfect candidate for the program! Can you believe it?"

Chuck was laughing at her enthusiasm and trying to stay upright in his chair. "Yeah, I believe it! Will you calm down? You're going to get us tossed out!"

"Sorry!" She stood up and smoothed her skirt, and then retrieved her shoe. "I couldn't have done it without you."

He made a dismissive noise and shook his head. "Nah, that was all you. I, ah, I have some news too."

"Really? It's turning into a great day all around!" She sat back down and leaned in. "Are you gonna tell me? Tell me!"

"Well, I-" he cleared his throat, and swallowed - "I got a job offer."

"Oh. Oh!" The news caught her off guard, but she smiled anyway. "Congratulations! Where?"

"Sydney." He studied her face, trying to gauge her reaction. "Air force. They're starting a program to research different applications for Jaeger tech, and they want me and my dad to be involved."

"That sounds amazing," Jazmine said, trying not to let her face betray the sinking feeling in her stomach. "You know that stuff inside and out, they'd be lucky to have you."

Chuck shrugged. "I haven't accepted it yet. Not sure if I'm going to."

"Well, you should," she responded, not sure which of them she was trying to convince. "Chuck, it sounds like they created this job for you, you'd be stupid to turn it down."

"Yeah." He looked at her with a frustratingly blank expression. "Sydney's a long way from Japan."

Her stomach sunk even further. "It's not that far. Maybe a day's flight. Just promise me you'll think about it."

"I'll think about it," he said as she stood to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I have a test to study for," she said, and waved over her shoulder as she strode out of the mess hall.

* * *

Between studying and work, Jazmine's days went by fast. She caught Chuck on the way back to her room one night and apologized for being scarce. "We'll have lunch tomorrow," she promised, and he smiled and told her goodnight.

The next day she was finishing up her morning rounds when one of the nurses stuck her head into the room. "Jazmine, can we see you for a minute?"

"Sure." She followed the nurse to a vacant room, where the head nurse, her brother, and the head doctor were all waiting. As the nurse who had brought her in excused herself, Jazmine realized two things - that she was in a lot of trouble, and she didn't have the slightest idea why.

"Jazmine," Raleigh said gently, and her stomach twisted, "Dr. Li just has a couple of questions for you."

"About what?" she asked, trying not to let her voice shake.

"Some painkillers went missing from the drug locker last night," Dr. Li said, and Jazmine could tell she was trying to be delicate about it. "About a hundred and fifty pills altogether. Do you know anything about that?"

"No," she replied, and for the first time in her life she wished she'd had more experience being honest. "I don't know anything about that. Did you check the cameras?"

"The stolen drugs were in an area that the cameras don't cover, which is why we think they were taken by someone on staff," the head nurse said. "We have footage of you headed towards that area last night."

"Well, I didn't take them," she argued. "The only reason I'm even by the drug locker is because that's where we keep supplies, and I'm always restocking things. I don't even have a key to get into it!" She looked desperately at Raleigh. "I wouldn't do that."

Dr. Li sighed. "Jazmine, a staff member came forward to tell us that they saw you take the pills out of the drug locker."

Her jaw dropped. "Well, they're lying. Tell them I wouldn't do that, Raleigh," she pleaded.

"Look, if you have them, I'm not going to be mad," her brother said, and Jazmine felt red flash behind her eyes. "If you return them, we can deal with this."

"You don't believe me. Why don't you believe me?" she half shouted, her voice rising in panic. "I have done everything you've asked me to since I got here. All I've done is try to prove that you can trust me, why won't you believe me?"

"What's going on?" a voice from behind her called out, and Jazmine spun around to see that Chuck had found them. In the back of her head she remembered dimly that she was supposed to be meeting him for lunch. Tears pooled in her eyes and slipped down her face before she could gather herself enough to answer, and she could see his concern grow as he pushed the rest of the way into the room. "What's wrong?"

Jazmine looked frantically between Chuck and her brother, and then all of her instincts kicked into high gear, and she did the one thing she'd sworn she would never do again. She ran.

* * *

She didn't know how long she'd been on the roof before Chuck found her there, dangling her feet off the edge. "How did you even get up here?" he asked, propping his crutches against the railing and slowly lowering himself to sit beside her.

"I memorized your code the first time we came up," she told him tonelessly, staring out over the ocean. "Did they send you up to tell me I'm done?"

"No. I came looking for you to let you know it's sorted." She turned to look at him in surprise. "They found the drugs in somebody's locker, probably the same shithead that tried to frame you. Idiots hadn't even searched the lockers."

"I'm guessing you were behind that." Jazmine rested her head against the railing.

"It should be common fucking knowledge," Chuck said, shaking his head. "Your brother owes you a _huge_ apology, not to mention everyone else involved."

She shrugged. "I really can't say I blame them," she said, looking back out to where sea met sky.

"Oh, shut up," Chuck snapped, making her look at him again. "You know I heard what you said to him. You're right."

"About what?" she asked.

"You've done nothing but try to be a good, trustworthy person since you got here," he said, looking her directly in the eyes. "You _are_ a good, trustworthy person. I don't trust many people and I trust you."

"So you defended me. Because you think I'm a good person."

"That's what friends do, isn't it?" Jazmine wasn't sure what compelled her to do it - maybe it was the earnest look in his eyes, maybe it was the idea that someone thought she was worth defending - but she leaned over and kissed him. Not the chaste peck she'd given him before, but a full, long kiss, and he put a hand on her cheek and she pressed her lips against his until her heart was pounding and she couldn't breathe. And then she pulled away, and he leaned back in and kissed her some more.

He pulled away, dreamy-eyed and breathless, and he combed his fingers through her hair and ran them down her neck. "We should go back inside," he said, sounding reluctant. "They were about ready to send a task force after you before I told them I knew where you were."

"Okay." She got up and helped Chuck pull himself back to his feet, and they made their way back inside.


	7. I should have known better

Raleigh was waiting by her door when they got back downstairs, leaning against the wall with an apprehensive expression. Jazmine could feel Chuck fuming silently next to her. Raleigh stood up as they approached, and Jazmine reached out to put a calming hand on Chuck's arm. _You going to be okay?_ his eyes asked her as he turned to look at her, and she leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

"I got this," she said, and Chuck gave Raleigh one last poisonous glare as he let himself into his room. Her brother still had an eyebrow raised at the nature of their goodbye when she turned back to face him. "Don't," she said firmly, and opened the door to her room to let them both inside.

He settled himself on her desk chair with a small sigh. "Jazmine, I screwed up," he started, and Jazmine swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. "I took a complete stranger's word over yours, and I didn't even bother to question it. I owe you a lot of apologies."

She sat on her bed, pulling her pillow into her lap to hug against her chest. "You found the drugs, though? And you know who took them?"

"Yeah, we found them. It was one of the nurses. He's been dismissed and escorted off the premises. Not by me, lucky for him," Raleigh said, anger seeping into his usually calm voice. "Honestly, Jaz, I'm so sorry. I know you've been working your ass off here. I just panicked when Dr. Li told me what happened. I know I have a blind spot when it comes to you, and the possibility that maybe you were lying - I didn't know what to do with that."

She shook her head. "I understand why. It's just…it hurts, you know?" she said, giving a humorless chuckle. "It feels like the more I try to change things, the more nothing changes."

"Don't do that." Raleigh leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "You've accomplished so much, don't let me mess that up for you. You're not just here to make me happy."

She was silent for a long moment. "Why didn't you try to find me after Yancy died?" she asked finally, slouching a bit to prop her chin on the pillow.

Raleigh cocked his head at her, surprised. "Jazmine, I did," he said, astonished. "I spent the entire first year I was out trying to track you down." Her lower lip trembled slightly, but she didn't respond. "I got as far as Cedar Rapids, and then it's like you just disappeared."

Jazmine nodded. "That's when I stopped staying in shelters."

"I didn't want to give up, but I ran out of money, and I was still so messed up from losing Yancy." He got up from the chair to sit next to her. "I thought you were dead, or at the very least that I was never going to see you again. And then you called me, and I had part of my family back. So I promised myself that no matter what happened, no matter what kind of trouble you were in, I wasn't going to lose you again."

The emotion rising in her chest was threatening to overwhelm her, so she changed the subject. "What's drifting like?"

Raleigh shook his head a little, reeling a little from her 180. "What?"

"Drifting. What's it like?"

He took a deep breath. "Well, it's - it's like having a conversation, only you don't just hear the other person's words, you can feel everything behind their response - all the little connections their brain makes from what you're saying to them, all the experiences they're drawing from, you can see them like it's your own mind."

"So you really can't hide anything from each other, can you?"

"Nope. That's why it's so important to trust each other. It's the most important thing, besides being compatible in the first place." He smiled a little at his own words.

"Can you just tell? If you're compatible with someone?" Jazmine wasn't sure if she was still talking about drifting, but she asked anyway.

"Sometimes. A lot of pilot teams were already close before they became pilots, like me and Yancy. Something like me and Mako, we were practically strangers, but we definitely had a connection." Raleigh shrugged. "That doesn't happen too often."

She pressed a little more. "When did you know you were going to be compatible with Mako?"

He laughed a little to himself. "Right away. The first time I saw her. She took a little more convincing." He gave her a sideways glance. "Are we still talking about drifting?"

"Maybe." She nudged him with her shoulder, and he put an arm around her. "I guess sharing your brain with someone means you don't have much to fight about, right?"

"Oh, nooo." Raleigh shook his head. "Yancy and I used to fight all the time. Usually stupid little stuff. Almost got ourselves kicked out of the program once, though."

"Really? What were you fighting about?"

"A girl." Jazmine raised an eyebrow, and Raleigh ducked his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, I know. I got her number, but Yancy took her out behind my back." He shrugged again. "Can't hide anything in the drift."

"Oh, my god!" She gaped at him. "That's how you found out?"

"Yup. In the middle of a training simulation. I was so pissed - we ended up in an epic bar fight, almost killed each other. And then I thought Stacker was going to kill us both, just to set an example." He grinned. "He didn't, obviously."

Jazmine mulled over this new bit of information about her older brothers. "So Yancy totally dicked you over. I can't believe he had the balls to pull something like that."

"You and me both!" he said, laughing. "He was supposed to be the responsible one!"

"You forgave him, though. Even though he hurt you."

"Well, yeah," he replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "It took some time. But he was my brother and my best friend. I wasn't going to throw that away over one mistake."

She nodded. "Did Chuck rip you a new one?"

"Yeah, he did," Raleigh sighed. "I actually thought he might take a swing at me a couple of times. He was, ah - vehement."

Jazmine burst out laughing. "I don't think 'vehement' is a strong enough word for what he is."

"I was trying to be nice," he said, sounding a little hurt. "I told you, I respect him. He's a good guy. He thinks the world of you, he can't be all that bad."

She hit him with her pillow. "I don't think I like where this conversation is going."

"Hey, you started it. " He put his hands up in mock surrender. "But as your big brother, I approve. Not that you need my approval."

"I _don't_ need your approval." She allowed herself a tiny smile. "But thank you."

Raleigh got up to leave. "Of course. Thanks for hearing me out. I'm sorry. Again."

"You don't have to keep apologizing." She stood and embraced him. "I forgive you."

"It won't happen again, I promise." Her brother hugged her back tightly, then turned to leave. "But, you know…" He looked back at Jazmine with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "If he breaks your heart, I'll break his face."

"Get out, Raleigh," she told him, but the words were spoken with a smile.

* * *

Three nights later Jazmine was cramming for her test. She sat on one end of her bed, books across her lap, while Chuck sat at the other end with his sketchbook, propped in a half-sitting position. "Just to keep you company," he'd said when she insisted that she needed to study.

He'd been there for half an hour before she finally noticed that he was watching her intently as his pencil moved across the paper in front of him. "Are you drawing me right now?" she asked suspiciously.

"Don't mind me, just keep doing what you're doing," he said without stopping his pencil.

"No, cut it out! It's distracting!"

"But you're really cute when you're concentrating!" he protested as she crawled across the bed to challenge him. "Now you're being distracting!"

"Oh, am I?" she asked, inches away from his face. She shoved her head in front of his sketchpad. "How about now? Is that better?"

He laughed, setting the pad aside to pull her in for a kiss. "I thought you were supposed to be studying," he said as she rested her head against his chest, arms around his waist.

"I need a break," she mumbled into his shirt. He kissed the top of her head. "Tell me about the job."

He sighed. "I told you, I don't know if I want it."

"I know, I just want to hear about it." She reached up to play with his dogtags.

"Well, they want to find other uses for Jaeger and drift technology. Not just for the military, maybe civilian, everyday stuff." He put a hand over hers to stop her fidgeting. "I have to admit, it does sound interesting."

Jazmine threaded her fingers through his and started an impromptu thumb war. "And they want both you and your dad?"

"Yeah, there's not many people left who've had a lot of experience drifting." He pinned her thumb, released it, let her pin his. "Plus it's an old buddy of my dad's heading it up, he's pretty keen on getting us down there."

"I still think you should take it more seriously. You'd still be helping people, just in a different way." She looked up at him. "You sit and draw Jaeger stuff all the time. You love it. I know you do."

"Yeah, well." He pinned her thumb again. "You could always come with me."

"That's a nice thought, but I'd be stupid to pass this up." She sat up and let go of his hand. "Assuming I can pass this test."

"You'll pass. I know you will." He picked the sketchpad up. "Either way, my offer still stands."

She let it go without comment, picking her book back up off the bed and settling it back in her lap. "Don't you start drawing me again."

"Not gonna make a promise I can't keep," he replied, flashing her his most charming smile, and she rolled her eyes and went back to studying.

* * *

Chuck made her get breakfast with him the morning of the test. "It's important, you're not going to be able to concentrate if you're hungry."

"I can hardly concentrate anyway," she said, forcing herself to eat a piece of toast.

"You're going to do fine," he told her. "And if you don't, there's other schools. It's not the end of the world."

She could hear what he wasn't saying. "You know, it's only a three year program. We can visit each other. It's not the end of us."

"I know that," he said brightly, but there was a hint of doubt under his veneer of confidence. "Seriously, you're going to do fine. I'll stop worrying if you'll stop stressing, okay?"

"Deal." She choked down the rest of her breakfast and washed it down with some orange juice, then stood and gave him a kiss. "For luck."

"You won't need it," he said, smiling, but she thought his smile had faded a bit when she looked back one last time.

* * *

Despite the confidence that she'd felt walking out of the testing room, Jazmine's nerves were completely shot two weeks later. Chuck tried to keep a sense of humor about her anxiety, but she could tell his patience was wearing thin.

"I'm sorry," she said after she'd snapped at him yet again. "I feel like my whole life is riding on this."

"It's not," he replied, wrapping her in a hug. "You don't have to apologize."

He was trying to distract her with a card game when Raleigh showed up at her door bearing a thin white envelope. "I'll leave this with you," he said, smiling, and made a hasty retreat.

She held it with shaking hands. Chuck grabbed his crutches and stood up to face her. "What are you waiting for? Open it!"

Tearing at the flap, Jazmine pulled out the paper inside and read it, realized she hadn't retained any of the words, and read it again. Then she read it again, and a smile slowly spread across her lips as the news sunk in. "It's an acceptance letter." She looked up at Chuck, whose smile matched her own. "I did it. I got in!"

"See? I told you!" She threw her arms around his neck and he fought to stay upright, kissing her as she laughed against his mouth. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, oh my god, thank you so much!" Her heart pounded in her chest and her mind raced. There was so much to do now, she needed to figure out where she was going to live, and how much everything was going to cost…

Chuck reached up to cup her face, and kissed her again, breaking away to rest his forehead against hers. "I turned down the job. I'm coming with you."

Jazmine's racing thoughts came to a screeching halt, and her mood flipped on a dime. "What?"

"I'm coming with you," he repeated. "I can't be away from you for that long. I want to be with you."

She took a step back. "You can't - why would you do that? You can't come with me!"

"Why not?" He was incredulous. "There'll be other jobs."

"Not like this one! It's perfect for you! You can't walk away from that because of me, don't be stupid!" She shook her head. "Have you even thought this through?"

"Of course I have! Why are you so angry?" The hurt in his eyes was evident, and it made her heart twist, but she stood firm. "I'm not walking away from you because of some job!"

"It's not just about the job. We've only known each other for a few months and you're talking about following me to another country." She laughed at the absurdity of what was happening. "God, Chuck, being with me isn't going to fix you!"

As soon as the words left her mouth she wished she could take them back. The color drained from Chuck's face, and his mouth because a hard line. "So that's it. I'm still not good enough for you."

"Chuck, that's not what I meant," she pleaded, but he was already leaving. "Please, I'm sorry."

"No." He hobbled out of her room without looking at her. "I'm sorry. Good luck to you." She watched him go, heard him slam the door to his room, and closed her own door with a heavy heart.

* * *

The next morning she got dressed and went straight to Chuck's room, hoping he'd have cooled off enough to let her talk, but when she got to his door it was half open and he was gone.

She stepped inside, realizing that most of his things were missing. A single piece of paper lay across his pillow and Jazmine picked it up, hoping it was a note, something that would tell her where he'd gone. Her heart sunk when she realized it was that first sketch of her she'd found, hair undone and eyes fixed on something off the edge of the paper.

"He left around 2 o'clock this morning," said a voice from behind her, and she turned to find Raleigh standing in the doorway. "Herc just told me. I was hoping to catch you so you wouldn't have to find out like…" he gestured around the room. "…like this."

The confirmation pushed all the air out of her lungs, and she sat down on the bed because she didn't think her knees would hold her up anymore. "He just left?"

"He took a red eye to Sydney." Cautiously he walked to the bed to sit next to her. "Did something happen?"

"He, um." She swallowed thickly. "I screwed it all up." Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to blink back the tears that were gathering, but one slid down her cheek and landed on the paper in her hands with a small, wet _smack_. Raleigh put an arm around her but didn't say anything in response, just let her find the words on her own. "He wanted to come with me, and I told him he couldn't do that." Jazmine leaned into her brother's shoulder.

He sighed and rubbed her back. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I think you made the right call."

"I told him I couldn't fix him," she said, disgusted with herself. "Why would I say that? I took everything he's done and I just threw it back in his face."

Raleigh nodded, and the look on his face told Jazmine he was starting to understand why Chuck had chosen to take off in the middle of the night. "That was a harsh thing to say," he said carefully, "but that was also a big decision for him to try and make for you."

"Our timing was just so fucked up. It's so unfair." Furiously she grabbed her sleeve to wipe the wetness off her cheeks.

They sat together for a few silent moments, interrupted only by Jazmine's occasional sniffling. "Is there anything I can do?" Raleigh asked, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"No, I think I just want to be alone for a little bit," she replied, and he stood up to leave.

"Mako and I have to go to Japan next week. I think you should come with us. We'll be close to Kyoto, we can stop over and check out some apartments," he said, and Jazmine knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Sure. Thanks." A half smile was the most she could muster, and her brother waved goodbye, leaving her to the silence of Chuck's empty room.


	8. We can work it out

AN: Thank you so much for reading! I was not expecting this to become what it is; I've gotten pretty attached to these two, and I'm sad to see it end! I'll probably write the occasional oneshot for them, it's not goodbye forever!

_Dear Chuck,_

_Not a whole lot has happened since my last letter. I go to class and I come home and I do homework, it's a pretty boring existence. I'm getting ready for finals soon, I can't believe I've been here for two semesters already! I had perfect marks last semester, I'm hoping I can keep that up. Next year I'm going to start taking some general education classes. Raleigh said he'd pay for it so I figured why not? At least if the nursing thing doesn't work out I'll have something besides my criminal history to put on a resume._

_I hope you're doing all right, I talked to your dad on the phone a couple of weeks ago and he said you've been having a tough time of it lately. I just wanted you to know that you can call me if you need me. I told you that I wanted to be there for you and that hasn't changed._

_Still thinking of you,_

_Jazmine_

* * *

She wrote him letters - it felt safer than trying to call, and seemed more meaningful than sending an email. Herc had given her a mailing address and said he'd pass them along. Jazmine knew he probably wasn't reading them, a belief that was reinforced by the lack of any response whatsoever, but she felt no reply was better than an angry reply so she kept sending them. Once a week at first, then once a month, then once every couple of months as time passed.

It was easier to settle into her new life than she'd expected. Her fellow students were friendly enough, and although Jazmine wasn't very interested in making friends it didn't take long before she had a regular study group and a handful of people she went to clubs with.

Dating, though, was still off the table. She wasn't quite ready for that yet.

* * *

_Dear Chuck,_

_Just finished my last class before the winter break, I'm free! Raleigh said he and Mako would probably visit for Christmas, I'm really looking forward to seeing them. Don't tell Mako, I think he's getting ready to propose. Although she probably knows that already, the way they read each other's minds. It's not going to be much of a surprise but I know she'll be thrilled._

_The last time I talked to your dad he said you were doing a lot better. I was really glad to hear that. You might not believe me but I want nothing but happiness for you. We met at a weird time in both our lives, and it ended so badly but I'm in such a good place right now, and you were a big part of that. I'm always going to be grateful to you._

_I hope someday we can talk again. It won't be the same, but maybe it will be better._

_Miss you,_

_Jazmine_

* * *

The first time she saw Chuck on the news she almost fell off the sofa. She'd seen pictures of him occasionally, paparazzi-style shots when he was still punching reporters for trying to talk to him in public, and he'd looked awful in the first few - underweight, dark circles under his eyes. But there he was, sitting straight in his chair, microphone clipped to his button-down shirt. He looked much healthier, if nervous, talking about the anniversary of Operation Pitfall and the memorials happening all week.

Jazmine could only watch for a few minutes. She shut off the tv when he started talking about what he'd been doing. It felt like she shouldn't know if he couldn't tell her himself.

* * *

"Hey, Raleigh, what's up?" Her brother called just as she was walking out of her last final.

"Hi Jaz, we just landed in Tokyo." He sounded unusually perky for someone who had just gotten off a 16 hour flight, but Raleigh's sleep schedule didn't seem to be that of a normal human being.

"Ohhhh, awesome! I bought my dress last week! Don't worry, it's totally daytime wedding appropriate." She balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder as she adjusted her bag.

"I'm sure it is," Raleigh said drily. "At this point, I don't care if you come in a trash bag as long as you show up. Our caterers bailed at the last minute, and one of the musicians might have the flu. And I think it's supposed to rain on Saturday."

"It is, but everybody keeps telling me that's good luck, so you should feel lucky!"

"Oh, I do, but our guests aren't going to feel very lucky if we can't get some tents in time." Jazmine could feel Raleigh's sigh over the phone. "I know, this shouldn't be that big of a deal."

"Getting married is still a big deal," she reminded him. "Come on, I know you've been planning this in your head since you met her. Everything will work out fine, and if you need me to do anything just tell me."

"Thanks, Jaz. I'm going to go, our car is here. See you for brunch tomorrow?"

_**BWAHHHHHHHHHHHH**_

The familiar sound of an air horn rang out over the campus, and Jazmine looked around for the source. "Jaz? What was that?" Raleigh asked her, and before she could answer she saw a familiar figure at the other end of the grassy quad between the buildings, beneath some trees.

"Uh..I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow," she stammered, hanging up before her brother could even say goodbye. Or he might have, but another blare of the air horn kept her from hearing anything else.

Jazmine bolted towards him, more interested in keeping him from continuing to shatter the relative peace of the campus than having an emotional reunion. She was mere yards away when Chuck raised the air horn again.

"Are you crazy?" she yelled as she came to a stop several feet in front of him, and his arm dropped.

"Yes," he replied, and grinned at her. He didn't look that different from the last time she'd seen him in the flesh, with the exception that his fatigue pants had been traded for a pair of jeans, messenger bag slung across his chest as he leaned on a cane.

"Okay, but you still have to knock that off. Campus security gets pissy about stuff like that." she crossed her arms and glared at him.

He seemed a little bewildered. "What, you haven't seen me in two years and I don't even get a 'hello'?" he asked, shoving the air horn into his bag.

"I didn't get a goodbye when you left," she fired back.

"Ouch." He pursed his lips and nodded. "I deserved that."

Jazmine was surprised at how angry she felt. "Damn right you deserved that. I haven't heard a single word from you since you went storming out of my room two years ago, and you just show up out of the blue..." Her voice trembled a little. "I wrote you letters…?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.

"I got them all." His head dropped a little, but he kept his eyes fixed on her. "I didn't read them until last month, but...I got them." He reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of envelopes bound with a rubber band, holding them up sheepishly. "Congrats on acing your finals. For the last three semesters."

She stared at him for a long minute before ditching her bag and launching herself into his arms, almost knocking both of them to the ground. He staggered back a step, dropping the letters so he could return her embrace.

"I fucking missed you, asshole," she mumbled into his chest, and he rested his cheek against the top of her head. "I thought I was never going to see you again."

"I missed you too," he murmured, reaching up to stroke her hair. "Just spent too much time trying to pretend I didn't."

She pulled away to compose herself, sniffling and rubbing the tears away from her eyes with her fingers. "So what have you been doing for the last two years?" she asked, bending over to pick up the letters he'd dropped.

"Hitting rock bottom, and then clawing my way back up again," he answered, taking the letters back. "That's the abridged version, anyway."

"Jesus, Chuck, how bad was it?"

He paused for a moment before answering. "Really bad," he said finally. "I was a mess. Don't be upset, it wasn't your fault," he protested as her eyes filled with tears again. "I was completely fucked up long before I met you, okay? Let's be 100% clear on that."

"Your dad just said you were going through a tough time, I had no idea," she said. "Why didn't he tell me?"

He chuckled under his breath. "I can imagine how that conversation would have gone," he said. "'Hi Jazmine, I just got into a fist fight with my son because he wouldn't leave the bar, do you want to talk to him?'"

"You started a _bar fight_ with your own father?" She laughed in shock, then clamped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, that's not funny," she mumbled through her hand.

"S'ok, it's kind of funny," Chuck said with a sheepish smile. "He ended it, pretty quickly at that. Must've taken a page from your brother's book." He looked down at the ground, then back up at her. "That was when he put his foot down. Said he almost lost me once, and he wasn't going to go through that again."

"You're better now, though?"

"Much. Haven't touched a drink in fourteen months," he said proudly.

"Congratulations! I'm so happy to hear that," she told him, stepping in to hug him again. "Why are you here?"

"Nice to see you're just as direct as I remember you," he teased. "Actually...I'm here to see if you would do me the honor of escorting me to your brother's wedding this weekend."

"I didn't know you were invited," she blurted, making a mental note to yell at Raleigh later.

"I, ah, I asked them not to tell you when I found out you didn't know," he said, wincing with guilt. "I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it, until a couple of weeks ago. But I wanted to reconcile with you in person, not through your brother."

"Well, how do you know I don't already have a date?" she sputtered indignantly.

He smirked. "Because Mako told me you don't have a plus one."

She wasn't deterred. "How do you know I'm not seeing someone and just not bringing them with me?"

"Then you still have no excuse not to go with a friend," he retorted. "Also Raleigh said you told him you weren't seeing anyone."

Add that to the list of things to yell at Raleigh about. "Maybe I just didn't want to tell him about it."

"Jazmine," Chuck said patiently. "If you don't want to go with me, that's fine. I understand."

She shook her head, exasperated. "Of course I want to go with you. I'll go with you. It's a date."

"Well, don't get too excited or anything." He cocked his head at her. "Are you seeing someone?"

"No. I'm not seeing anybody." She crossed her arms again.

His smirk got bigger. "I knew you wouldn't get over me that easily."

"Glad to see you haven't lost your arrogance."

He laughed. "It's not arrogance if it's true. I told you, I read all your letters."

They stared at each other, not quite sure what to do next, until Jazmine finally spoke up. "So...what now?"

"Well, I suppose I'll see you on Saturday. Do you have to be there early to help out?" he asked, but she was already shaking her head.

"Don't be stupid." She picked up her bag. "We're going to go have some lunch, and then catch up on the last twenty-six months." Jazmine started walking away, then turned back. "Are you coming?"

Smiling, Chuck followed her across the quad.

* * *

"Are you still in there?" Chuck yelled at the bathroom door. "You're not the only one who's got to get ready, you know."

"Yes, I'm almost done," Jazmine yelled back. Lunch on Thursday had turned into dinner, which turned into ice cream, which turned into Chuck spending the night and Jazmine missing family brunch on Friday morning. Now it was Saturday, three hours before the wedding, and they were still joined at the hip.

The craziest part was how it didn't feel crazy at all. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"Okay, bathroom's open," Jazmine said as she walked out, clutching her sandals. Chuck heaved an exaggerated sigh, turned around, and stopped cold at the sight of her. "Oh god, what? Is my skirt too short? Did I mess up my makeup?" Her dress was pale pink lace, with spaghetti straps and a skirt that fell in two layers and hit just under her knees. She'd pulled her hair up in a high, loose bun, with curls that fell gently around her face.

He gaped at her for a moment longer before pulling himself together. "No, you look incredible. I've never seen you all dressed up before."

"Oh." She blushed a little, then realized he was still only wearing his pants and an undershirt. "Go get ready! We have to leave in forty-five minutes!"

"I'm working on it," he snapped, pulling his shirt on and buttoning it in a hurry. "Will you come help me with my tie?"

"I don't know how to tie a tie," she snapped back, and her eyes went wide in horror. "Do you really not know how to tie a tie? Oh no." She grabbed her phone, scrolling madly through her contacts.

"Jazmine."

"I'll call your dad, maybe we can catch him outside and he can help you before the ceremony…"

"_Jazmine_." She hadn't noticed him walk over to her until he took the phone from her hand. She looked up at him. "I know how to tie a tie, okay? It was a clever ruse to get you to come touch me. Here, I'll show you."

As he walked her through the steps of making a double Windsor knot, Jazmine realized her breathing had slowed and her nerves were soothed. She guided the end of the tie through the last loop, and he showed her how to tighten it.

"There, see?" His face was inches away from hers, and she gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I was hoping for a little more than that," he complained.

"If you get a little more than that, we're going to miss the wedding," she chided him. "Go comb your hair, Hansen." He grumbled, but complied.

* * *

It did rain, but only in the morning, and the sky was a vivid blue overhead as everyone slowly filed into the garden venue and took their seats on either side of the aisle. Some stopped at the table by the flower-covered arbor that held candles and framed pictures of Stacker and Yancy to pay their respects.

The ceremony was planned to be simple and straightforward; there were no groomsmen or bridesmaids, no endless procession of bridal party members. It began with just Raleigh and Mako, hand in hand, walking down the aisle together towards their future as a string quartet played "All You Need is Love". Mako wore a tea-length dress with a full skirt in light blue brocade; Raleigh was in dress slacks and a button down shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Jazmine sat with Chuck in the front row, fielding his twenty hundred questions about weddings. "Isn't the bride supposed to wear white?" he whispered to her as they happy couple took their positions in front of the small arbor at the end of the aisle.

"Yeah, but the bride can wear whatever she wants," Jazmine whispered back. "It's not like it matters if she's a virgin."

"Wait, what?" He forgot to whisper that time, and she elbowed him.

"That's why the bride used to wear white, to show she was still a virgin. It's stupid and old fashioned," she hissed at him between her teeth.

Chuck still had his eyebrows raised, contemplating this new bit of information when Tendo started the ceremony.

"We're gathered here today to celebrate the love between Raleigh and Mako, as they take this step forward to be not only friends, not only co-pilots -" mild laughter from the guests - "-but husband and wife."

"But a lot of women still wear white dresses?" Chuck whispered.

"I told you, it's stupid and doesn't matter and they can wear whatever color they want," Jazmine growled out of the side of her mouth. Herc gave them a sideways glance from the other side of Chuck.

"...and now, the bride and groom will be exchanging vows they have written for one another," Tendo finished, stepping back.

Jazmine couldn't even remember what was said - she was too busy watching their faces, noticing how they only had eyes for each other as they spoke, as though everyone else had disappeared.

And then suddenly all the talking was over, and they were sliding rings onto each other's fingers and Tendo yelled "I pronounce you husband and wife, now kiss!" and everyone stood to shower them with birdseed, Raleigh catching her eye and winking as they flew back down the aisle with their clasped hands held high.

* * *

The reception was even more informal than the ceremony had been - the venue had managed to find a caterer that could handle a dinner buffet on the shortest of short notice. Jazmine spotted Raleigh getting emotional with the woman who seemed to be running things, and moved to intercept.

"...so, so grateful, you have no idea. I thought we were going to have to get fast food," she could hear him saying in Japanese, and he had pressed a tip envelope into her hand but hadn't let go yet.

"Hey there, buddy, you're speaking her language but your crazy American is showing," she said, taking him by the arm. The woman slipped the envelope into her apron and bowed, scurrying away. "Are you still freaking out? You did it! The hard part's over!"

Raleigh took a deep breath and grinned. "Sorry. The last two days have been so insane, I don't know if I can turn it off again."

"Hey, I told you I would help out however I could and you told me everything was under control," she teased.

"It was under control," he argued. "I figured when you missed brunch yesterday that you were still wiped out from finals. I wanted to give you a break."

"Yeah, sorry about that. We overslept," she admitted, not realizing what she'd said until Raleigh raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean, uh, _I_ overslept…?" Both of them instinctively looked over to where Chuck was sitting with Mako and Tendo, and when he spotted them he smiled and gave a cheery wave. Jazmine's cheeks burned.

"Jaz," Raleigh looked back over at her, "I never thought I'd be saying this to my own sister, but it's about time."

She laughed. "You're telling me. Come on, you need to go dance with your wife."

They made their way over to the table to collect their respective partners, Tendo disappearing when he heard them mention dancing.

"I don't know how to dance," Chuck protested as she pulled him up out of his chair.

"Just hug me, and sway back and forth a little," she pleaded, and he acquiesced.

Before they could get to the dance floor, the band stopped playing the song they were in the middle of, and Tendo's voice rang out from the PA system. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna need everybody on the dance floor - Mr. and Mrs. Mori-Becket, or is it Becket-Mori? Anyway, they've opted not to have a first dance by themselves, and they're getting ready to dance together for the first time this evening. So let's all grab a partner and join them! Becket boy, Mako - this one's for _you_!"

"I know where you live, Tendo!" Raleigh yelled across the floor, drawing laughter from everyone who was standing to join them, and Tendo beat a quick retreat as the bandleader counted them off.

Chuck turned to face her as they stepped onto the dance floor, positioning himself awkwardly. "Is this - I'm not sure where to put my hands," he confessed, and she smiled at him.

"Here." She placed his right hand on her waist, and moved the hand holding his cane over to her right side so he could continue to support himself, then wrapped her arms around his neck. "This is fine, just let me know if you need to go sit down."

_L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see…_ "I'm supposed to fly back out to Sydney on Tuesday," he said softly, and she dropped her head to rest her cheek against his shoulder.

"I know," she said. "I wish you didn't have to go."

"You've got a year left of school, yeah?" _V is very very extraordinary, E is even more than anyone that you adore..._

"Yeah, but I was thinking - I might see if I can get into pre med," she told him, a bit hesitantly. "Maybe be a doctor, like I always wanted."

"If that's what you want to do, you definitely should," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I'll just have to move to Japan, it looks like."

_Love is all that I can give to you, love is more than just a game for two… _"What are you going to do about your job?" she asked, looking up at him. "I thought you wanted to keep working for them."

"I do." He gave her a guilty smile. "Did I not mention that they're starting a branch in Tokyo?"

"No, you neglected to mention that during the last 48 hours we've spent together." She shook her head at him. "So what was all that about? 'I don't want to go, I want to move out here, boo.' That was your plan from the start, wasn't it?"

_Two in love can make it, take my heart but please don't break it… _"This is your turf. I didn't want to come barging into your life if you didn't want me to." He slid his hand to the small of her back to pull her in close, and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"I'm ready for this." The words surprised both of them, but she kept going. "Chuck, I still don't really know what I'm doing with my life, but I want you in it." _Love was made for me and you!_

"You really mean that." His smile was infectious, and he lifted her off her feet with the arm he had around her waist in a tight embrace.

"Yes! Put me down!" They were both laughing. "I want to see your stupid face every day, okay? If you can put up with mine."

"Jazmine, your face is the only face I want to put up with. For as long as you'll have me." He brought his hand up to cup her face, and kissed her gently.

"Can I have you forever?" It was supposed to be a joke, but as soon as she said it she realized she meant it.

He grinned. "If that's what you want."

Everyone around them disappeared

_Love was made for me and you!_


End file.
